In Cleveland, hope dies last

Thanks for the memories, Jose

It was 14 years ago last night that Jose Mesa soiled himself on the mound at Pro Player Stadium, killing the best chance the Indians have had to win a World Series in our lifetime.

We all remember what happened that night in Miami: Jaret Wright, Paul Assenmacher, Mike Jackson and Brian Anderson combined to through 8 innings of two-hit, one-run baseball and turn over a 2-1 Indians lead in the ninth inning to Mesa.

Mesa, of course, let in the tying run in a game the Indians would go on to lose in extra innings – the last time the Tribe was close to winning a title.

We still remember that weekend like it was yesterday.

We were working at a newspaper in New Jersey and when we left the office on the day of Game 6, the publisher asked us what we thought was going to happen. There was no doubt in our mind that the Tribe would win Game 6 – losing to the Marlins in six games would have been disappointing but not soul-crushing.

No, we said, the only way this will play out is the Indians will either take the last two games or lose a Game 7 in some kind of horrible fashion.

Little did we know at the time how right we were.

***

The latest out of Browns town is that Oakland’s Aaron Curry claims that one of the Browns offensive lineman tips off the play “about 70 percent of the time” before the snap.

“One of the O-linemen from Cleveland, they gave it up every play, most of the time, I’d say about 70 percent of the time, whether it was run or pass.,” Curry told The San Francisco Chronicle. “They had no clue they were doing it, but I figured it out from just watching the film.”

Lovely.

Right tackle Joe Thomas doesn’t think it’s an issue, though.

“He must be a wizard because after being there one day, he figured it out?” Thomas told The Plain Dealer. “He must be really smart. . . . I’m sure if a guy was leaning really far back or really far forward, maybe [he could see it]. But for one day? That is very impressive.”

From one end of the line where there was near perfection to the other where there was a disaster waiting to happen, Tony Pashos’ performance in the run game (-4.7) can be summed up in one word: dismal. It didn’t matter who was lined up in front of Pashos, everyone had the pleasure of beating him off the ball and making him look silly. When the Browns ran behind him they averaged 2.4 yards per carry, almost a full yard below the team average. Even though everyone took their shots on Pashos, no one enjoyed the day more than Alan Branch. The former Cardinal forced Pashos into committing a penalty, as well as beaten him badly on two other plays.

Hmmm, a lineman may be tipping off the play and Pashos was abused by the Seahawks last weekend?